Love Thy Neighbor, Eliminate Mob Violence

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” This adage is found in all the major faith traditions. One sobering aspect is that how we treat others is always a reflection of how we love ourselves. We judge others with the same vengeance that we judge ourselves. We reject others in the same way we reject and refuse to see aspects of ourselves. What then can we conclude from the activity of flash mob violence? 

For me, it is a reflection of the ways they feel powerless and devalued. They do not value the expression of divine life in their victims because they cannot see it in themselves. Our society has created the view that to feel important, to value ourselves, we must be able to wield some sort of power: political, financial, or physical. Lacking access to either of the first two, the mobsters have turned to violence. 

We must find a way to heal the wounds of our society. Rather than seeking the most appropriate punishment and simply moving these young people off the streets with curfews, we must find ways to teach them their own worth. We must be able to see it in them in order to reflect it back to them. This is not the problem of inner city parents or big city authorities. So long as my neighbors suffer, I am suffering also. There can be no peace in the world until there is peace within each one of us. Love your neighbor as yourself. If you open yourself to this message, the acts of love will reveal themselves.